|
Former Negro League
player Logan dies at 98 ARCADIA, Calif. -- Eddie Logan, who shined shoes at Santa Anita since the racetrack opened on Christmas Day 1934 and was a former boxer and Negro League baseball player, died Saturday. He was 98. Logan never recovered after suffering a seizure and stroke on Jan. 3, and died at his home in nearby Monrovia, according to track spokesman Mike Willman. A self-described "footman," Logan worked at Santa Anita for nearly 75 years, servicing such Hall of Fame jockeys as Eddie Arcaro, John Longden, Bill Shoemaker, Laffit Pincy Jr. and Chris McCarron. "Over the years, Eddie became a great friend," Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella said. "Our friendship was partly due to the admiration I had for him, to be operating his shoeshine stand as he did for all these years was remarkable. Logan would often lecture horsemen about the care of their boots and shoes and the perils the stable area presented for leather. "This leather's got four things working against it on the backside," Logan would say. "Salt, brace, alkali and urine." Logan played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League in the 1920s and early '30s. He appeared in Santa Anita's winner's circle to present the trophy for the Eddie Logan Stakes on Dec. 27. A wreath was laid by Logan's shoeshine stand outside the racing secretary's office Saturday and a winner's circle tribute to him was planned between the day's races. Funeral arrangements were pending. |